Process for converting hydrocarbon oils



C P. DUBBS ETA! PROCESS FOR CONVERTING HYDROCARBON OILS Original FiledMay 29 1922 (urban ffiazvba J cqaes GY/Iorrell.

. such as gasoline.

Patented Jan.. 21, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CARBON 1. DUBBS, OF WILMETTE, AND JACQUE C. MORRELL, OF GHIOAG'O,ILLINOIS:

SAID DUBBS ASSIG-NOR TO UNIVERSAL OIL PRODUCTS COMPANY, OF CHICAGO,ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF SOUTH DAKOTA PROCESS FOR CONVERTINGHYDROCARBON OILS Application filed May 29, 1922, Serial This inventionrelates to improvements in a process for the conversion of hydrocarbonoils, and refers more particularly to the production of light oils suchas gasoline from relatively heavier oils.

Among the objects of the invention are to provide a process in whichoils emulsified naturally or artificially with water, such as aCalifornia oil, are directly treated to produce lower boiling pointoils; to provide a process in which the oil is treated in the presenceof catalytic materials such as easily reducible metallic oxides; toprovide a process which is preferably operated under pressure of thegenerated vapor, a process in which the catalyst is regenerated.

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevational view of the apparatus.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1.

The treatment of emulsified oils is particularly diflicult due to thepresence of water which renders distillation of the oil almostimpossible until the water has been driven out of the'oil body. The factthat the water is so thoroughly emulsified and dispersed through the oilproduces innumerable difficulties in distillation. Frequent attemptshave been made to crack these emulsified oils into gasoline, but thedifficulties attending these methods rendered the racticalapplication-of the processes inopera 1e.

vapor acts as a ositive aid in the conversion of these emulsi edpetroleums to lighter oils,

The reason for this is in certain chemical reactions which take placebetween the water vapor and the catalysts. In the practical applicationof the present process, the oil is raised to a conversion temperature,and is distilled in tubes containing the catalytic material, oralternate methods of combining the oil while in the conversion statewith the catalytic material may be racticed, such as passing; theemulsifie oil through heated coils, so that the vaporized oil will mixwith the steam or water vapor orifinally present in the emulsified w oilas suc Referring to the drawings: The-oil to be preferably heated bymeans of gas burners 5.

N0. 564,349. Renewed August 3, 1928.

treated is introduced from any convenient extraneous source through theline 1, and is charged by means of the pump 2 to the heating coils 3mounted in a furnace 4, which is The oil, after being raised to aconversion temperature under a substantial pressure of the generatedgaseous vapors, is directed to the distilling zone or vaporizingchambers 6 and 7, which are connected to lines 8 and 9. The transferline 10 through which the oil passes in its travel from the heatingtubes to the vaporizing chambers terminates in the Y connectioncommunicating with the pipes 8 and 9 controlled by valves 11 and 11 Thedistilling or vaporizing chambers are mounted in an oven or furnacearrangement 12 heated by burners 13 which serve to main tain thechambers at a desired temperature. A steam header 14 having secondaryconnections 15 and 16,- controlled by regulating valves 17 and 18 isconnected to the vaporizing chambers, whereby steam may be introduced,if desired, to separate distilling tubes. The header 19 joining thechambers 6 and 7 is connected to vapor riser 2O controlled by a suitablevalve which communicates with the de hlegmator 21, which in turnconnectsthroug line 22 to the water condenser 23. The condenser is connectedthroughline 25, controlled by valve 26 to receiver 27, the

v 4 latter being equipped with pressure relief In the present processthe presence of water with the charging stock to the heating zone forretreatment. 5

In operation, the emulsified oil to be treated is introduced and raisedto a conversion temperature in the heating zone a d then passes to thedistilling or vaporizing chamber. The vaporizing chambers containcatalytic material such as ferric oxide or other oxides or compounds ofmetals shown at 41 which have a catalytic action when in the presence ofthe flowing oil body. The vapors evolved in the distilling chamber passoff through the riser and after being dephlegmated, are collected asdistillate in the receiver. The presence of a catalytic material bothimproves the quality of the distillate and also gives an increased yieldof low boiling point distillates.

Among the advantages of the process may be mentioned the ability totreat emulsified oil directly into gasoline, thus taking advantage ofthe water vapor which is otherwise a hindrance in carying out thereaction. The presence of the water vapor and catalyst with the oil bodyduring its conversion seems to have a distinct advantage rather thanbeing a hindrance in the conversion or cracking reaction. This is anadvance in the art of treating what has heretofore been a veryrefractory petroleum product.

The presence of water vapor in the tubes containing the catalyst alsoprevents the formation of carbon and other substances deleterious to thereaction and allows every surface of the catalysts to come in contactwith the treated oil vapors at all times. lVithout the presence of thewater vapor there is a tendency of the precipitating carbon particles tocollect upon the catalytic material and materially hinder and retard itseffect upon the reaction of the oil. The distillate or product is ofhigh quality owing to the presence of hydrogen in the system formed as asecondary reaction and as a consequence a good yield is obtained.

Control valves are situated in the transfer lines to the respectivechambers and valves 42 and 43 in the header 19 for isolating either ofthe chambers so that they may be run alternately, one being opened forcleaning and blown out with steam if desired, while the other is inoperation.

It has been found that if the ratio of oil to Water in the naturalemulsified petroleum is greater than from 85 to 90 per cent, more waterin the form of steam may be added, with a decidedly improved effect uponthe flowing oil, thus supplying more water vapor and at the same timeagitating the oil and producing a more even distribution of theemulsified oil. If the ratio is less than these figures, better resultswill be obtained if oil is supplied to an extent to raise the ratio tothe figures mentioned. It is understood that it is not F., may bemaintained during conversion. It is understood, however, that the methodof operation and the form of the apparatus may be varied withoutdeparting from the spirit and subject matter of the invention.

We claim as our invention:

1. A continuous process for cracking emulsified oil, consisting inpassing oil and water in an emulsified condition through a heating coil,wherein the emulsified material is raised to a conversion temperature,in transferring the highly heated material into an enlarged zone,wherein it is subjected to the action of a metallic oxide, and inmaintaining the ratio of oil and water in the emulsion such that the oilrepresents from 85 to 95 per cent thereof.

2. A continuous process for cracking emulsified oil, consisting inpassing the oil and water in an emulsified condition through a heatingcoil, wherein it is raised to a conversion temperature, in maintainingthe ratio of oil to water such that the oil represents at least 85 percent of the emulsion, by introducing additional water-free oil to thecharging material for the process when the water content of the emulsionexceeds 15 per cent, in delivering the highly heated emulsified materialto an enlarged zone, wherein it is subjected to the action of ferricoxide, in withdrawing unvaporized portions of the emulsion from saidenlarged zone, and in separately taking off vaporized constituents fromsaid enlarged zone for condensation and collection.

CARBON P. DUBBS. JACQUE C. MORRELL.

proposed to limit the process to these specific

